30 KILLED IN TURKISH ATTACK
Bomber blows up centre where anti-ISIL activists were meeting,
ISTANBUL // A suicide bomber attacked a cultural centre hosting anti-ISIL activists in a Turkish town near the border with Syria, killing 30 people.
The blast ripped through the centre in Suruc, opposite the Syrian flashpoint of Kobani, which was itself later hit by a suicide car bombing. ISIL was blamed for the attack. Most of the dead in Turkey were university students who had been planning a mission to help Kobani residents, according to a pro-Kurdish party official.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on a visit to northern Cyprus, condemned the Suruc attack as an “act of terror”. He said: “On behalf of my people, I curse and condemn the perpetrators of this brutality. “Terror must be condemned, no matter where it comes from.” The explosion blew out the building’s windows and set off a blaze, witnesses said.
“The Turkish authorities have strong reason to believe that the terrorist attack was perpetrated by ISIS,” a government official said.
If confirmed, it would be the first such attack by ISIL in Turkey, the regional military power and Nato member.
The blast took place as an anti-ISIL group based at the cultural centre was preparing to announce a mission to Kobani. Alp Altinors, from the pro-Kurdish HDP party, said the 300 people from the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations were mainly university students from across Turkey.
“They were planning to build parks in Kobani, hand out toys for children and paint school walls,” he said.
Mehmet Celik, a local resident, said: “The town is in chaos. Almost all the shops are closed in Suruc.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin called the attack a “barbaric act”, and said: “Fighting terrorism requires an active cooperation from the whole international community.” EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said on Twitter: “Tragic consequences of Syrian conflict felt in a neighbouring country.”
Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu is sending three ministers to the south-eastern region, his office announced.
The interior ministry said: “We are calling on everyone to show common sense in the face of this terrorist attack targeting our country’s unity.” In Kobani, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at a checkpoint, killing two members of Kurdish security forces, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Kobani has been a symbol of resistance against the militants since ISIL fighters were driven out by Syrian Kurdish forces in January.
Turkey’s Kurds were frustrated at the time at Ankara’s refusal to intervene to quash ISIL, who have seized large parts of Syria and Iraq during the past year.
In recent weeks, security forces have arrested dozens of ISIL militants and sympathisers in the most significant action by Ankara against the militants.
“It’s now obvious that the Turkish government has upgraded the threat posed by ISIL to among the top ones it is facing,” a Western diplomat said last week.
Turkey has also boosted its border defences, stationing tanks and anti-aircraft missiles there as well as bolstering troop numbers.
The build-up has fed speculation that the government may intervene in Syria to push the terrorists back from the border and halt Kurdish forces who have made gains against the extremists. Mr Davutoglu has, however, ruled out any immediate action in Syria.
Turkey has been accused of tolerating or even aiding ISIL in the early stages of their existence as allies against Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, whom Mr Erdogan wants driven from power.
Officials have fiercely dismissed criticism that Ankara has not been doing enough to halt militants crossing the 911-kilometre border and said that Turkey has deported more than 1,500 ISIL suspects and banned 15,000 people from 98 countries from entering. Ankara has also categorised ISIL as a terrorist group since October 2013.
But Turkey has been a reluctant member of the anti-ISIL coalition led by the US and refused to give its Nato ally authorisation to use its Incirlik airbase in the south for bombings against militant targets.
In January, Kurdish forces backed by rebel groups and USled air strikes pushed ISIL out of Kobani after four months of fighting. The extremists made a raid on Kobani last month but Kurds drove back the terrorists. Suruc, once a centre of silk-making, has one of the biggest refugee camps in Turkey for Syrians – about 35,000. Turkey has taken in more than 1.8 million refugees since 2011.